Although artificial intelligence has a growing role in journalism, research finds that Americans don’t know about AI’s role in their lives—or their news. Technology has repeatedly transformed the news media industry—telegraph, radio, television, and then the internet. Yet despite these evolutions, technology remained the medium and human journalists the messengers. The introduction of AI has changed that model. Today, AI machines designed to perform the communicator role are generating news content independent of humans. That means AI is the medium and the messenger, giving human journalists a new synthetic partner programmed to aid in news gathering. The new study finds many Americans are…

You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. Although artificial intelligence has a growing role in journalism, research finds that Americans don't know about AI's role in their lives--or their news. Technology has repeatedly transformed the news media industry--telegraph, radio, television, and then the internet. Yet despite these evolutions, technology remained the medium and human journalists the messengers. The introduction of AI has changed that model.